Ties that Bind
by Aura
Summary: Jane finds herself trapped with Loki, and at his mercy - while the trickster wishes to draw out the power within her for his own aims. Starts in TDW but quickly alters as events are changed. LOKANE. Rating may rise in the future depending on future content.
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: I haven't been able to get this idea out of my brain. It haunts me. So while I should be working on The Art of War instead I'm fiddling with this (that and I have free time while waiting on something!). Events will very swiftly alter from what happened in the movie as I have my own route I'd like to take. I hope people like it.

**Chapter One:** _**Altering the Strands**_

"_You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying up."_

_**-Mary Pickford**_

The shimmering golden walls might have been magnificent for some. Loki was less than impressed by the unique form of the bars that caged him – gilded as they were. However the all-mother tried to help make him more comfortable didn't change that he had been sentenced to rot in this cage until he was as gray as the all-father. Despite Frigga's best efforts to entertain him he grew less content with each day that passed, more frustrated with the all-father's unjust decisions.

The only thing of interest he had to do is use his magic to spy on the world above. His mother, no, the all-mother, he corrected himself could send her consciousness – or at least a piece of it – here to his cell. Like she, he could extend his senses to the upper levels of the palace through his illusions. He wasn't able to do so in the shape of his own body. He knew Odin wouldn't tolerate that sort of blatant disrespect. Their short conversation before he was sentenced to this long stay was far from faith inspiring there would be forgiveness if Loki's new pastime was discovered.

Loki oft chose the forms of the people in the background, guards, cleaners, messengers, other such servants. People with uniforms were usually overlooked. Most seemed to think he belonged as long as he kept his head down. Wasn't too eager to overstep his bounds. These were tricks he'd perfected before he could reliably ride a horse. There were so many servants in the palace none in his family had any way of knowing them all and he blended in with them none the wiser. It was such a simple plan used to spy on them that Loki had to remember to watch himself. Should he ever escape this prison and be able to freely walk in the palace again.

_"Thor brought a girl home to meet his dear mother."_ Loki thought with amusement, ignoring another flicker of regret as he considered his last conversation with Frigga. She would get over his biting remarks, she always did. Moving past that, diverting himself back to the topic at hand. "_Years are a long time in mortal lives, she must be quite enamored of Thor to wait as long as she has._ _Here he's finally brought her to Asgard but with some mysterious ailment. How dreadful for them both..."_

Loki grinned as he tossed the cup he was using to wile away his hours into the air and caught it again – before repeating the gesture. A pointless trick, but better than not moving at all. He couldn't just do nothing while waiting for his strength to return. He had to take breaks from spying on the rooms above. While he could do so with ease the space between himself and the areas of interest were far enough that it swiftly drained him. This not quite juggling of the cup helped calm his mind – the repetition could be compared to focusing on breathing for someone meditating. He would be able to return to his subtle eave-dropping soon, all the better as he was curious what the all-father had to say of this mortal – and hoped he wouldn't miss the interaction. His thoughts were of the amused variety with such interesting things happening – Asgard hadn't been nearly so fun to put the effort in until today.

He caught the cup, setting it to the side table then closed his eyes, head still propped on his left arm and then the pillow, his breathing now the topic of his attention.

_"Don't force it, if you push too much on the strings of the tapestry the magic will shatter – spell weaving takes a delicate touch." _It was one of his first lessons, one of the most important. It was a wonderful base rule for many things in life. Also, why he assumed Thor never showed a lick of talent for the art. He could remember his mother's lessons clearly enough even to this day. His memory had always been keen, if occasionally selective. He pushed the images away, disquiet would serve to unnerve his spell as surely too much power pressed into the threads of space. His breathing was shallow now, distant. He felt that moment of the lapsed darkness between consciousness and wakefulness before forcing his eyes to open.

He was near the medical ward, his dress showed him to be one of the youngest of the nurses. A brown eyed, average stature brunette with short curly locks. There were people hurrying toward one of the rooms so he walked after them. It was just as well he paused in one of the side halls for the servants. Loki knew he could trick Odin – he'd done so in the past easily enough – but always in person when it was far easier to pluck the threads that held the world together. From this distance he was content to listen in from outside. He blended well enough since two other nurses huddled with him to avoid the all-father's possible wrath.

"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait." Odin was remarking – apparently Loki had gotten here just in time for a show. Who said rotting in jail couldn't still be entertaining?

"I brought her here because we could help her." Thor pandered to father far more readily since his exile.

_"I wonder if the mortal is aware that father castrated you Thor."_ Loki idly pondered the insults couldn't risk speaking aloud.

"She does not belong here in Asgard anymore than a goat belongs at a banquet table." Odin dismissed Thor's slim hopes of saving his lady love.

_"The hypocrisy hangs from you as clearly as the crimson of your cloak. What happened to the respect you demand I possess for these mortals when you stuck me in a cell?" _Loki kept his expression schooled despite a desire to scowl at the all-father's remark. It was clear Odin had no more respect for the human's than Loki – perhaps less.

"Did he just..." The mortal spoke up for herself without Thor having to, the remark earned a tiny smirk. "...who do you think you are?"

_"Pity it's Thor who's grown attached, I can appreciate that level of gall."_

"I am Odin, King of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms." He spoke to entertain a child's whim, there may have been a grudging politeness but no respect.

_"You could just kill her, it's clear you would like to from the tone in your voice."_

"Oh..." The girl sounded surprised – he supposed it would be a shocking revelation for a mortal. "Well I'm..."

Odin interrupted her, his patience was already wearing thin. "I know very well who you are; Jane Foster."

"You told your dad about me?" A girlish delight entered her voice.

_"Don't get your hopes up, it isn't as if you could ever have a future here. Or do, it'll be that much harder for Thor when he loses you."_

The woman next to him murmured an apology after bumping into him for a short second, it was disorienting – keeping up illusions that held physical form were incredibly difficult even for his mother. His mind was reeling as he nodded a silent accent to the words, hoping to settle it before the sudden draw on his energy shattered his spell. It was a brief bump – if someone had tripped fully into him he wouldn't have been able to keep it up at all – it would have shattered as many spells in the past. If it wasn't for his clandestine hopes he wouldn't have put the energy into keeping it in place at all.

Thor was trying to give some excuse, that was waved away and then his father announced to the guards that she would return to Midgard. Walking swiftly away was on Loki's mind when the pulse of energy happened. The crimson and black essence curled even around the corners of the hall. Past where it blasted back the guards and made others cover their faces to hide from it. His illusion, his own mind and magic, felt settled - suddenly stronger as a result of the black power.

_"Now, what is this? Who could have thought I would find something so interesting..."_ Loki's attention refocused, he risked peeking around the corner.

Odin walked up to look at the mortal laying on the dias, a hand tracing over her skin – barely pulling the energy contained within to the surface so he could see it for himself. "That's impossible..."

They continued to speak but Loki wasn't interested. He knew all too well what it was that ran within the girl's veins. Another of the infinity stones, he'd utilized the Tesseract and it had the same feel – albeit more sinister. The Aether was a far less forgiving master, even from this distance Loki could hear it calling out to him – searching for a master worthy of it.

Loki slipped away from the other listening women as Odin asked Thor and the mortal to follow him – he had gotten a small piece of the Aether's power when it had defended itself but it wasn't enough. Into a closet the image went, and far beneath the city green eyes opened. He laughed outright, not a single time, but a small fit of mirth that went deep into his belly. This girl had brought with her a treasure even Odin, with all his gifts for clairvoyance, could not have foreseen.

Getting the mutating aether out of her would be another matter entirely. They would require someone versed in not only magic but the void. He doubted they were even aware that Loki knew how to extract the essence within her. Not that he would volunteer himself – the aether was an unforgiving master – it drew on the life force of it's hosts as a parasite until it ate them completely before moving to the next. Harnessing that power without being consumed by it was a risk even he wouldn't take short of a last resort. Still, if he could somehow steal a portion of it – as a piece of the Tesseract had been stolen to form it's spear – then he could command it without that pesky side effect.

Today was turning out to be his best day back on Asgard yet. He lifted the cup to return to his not quite juggle, considering new paths. He just had to figure out how to escape his cell. The light's in the prison flickered then and an eyebrow rose before he just as quickly dismissed his past time in favor of moving to look at what was happening outside. Was Asgard under attack?

- - - ooooo - - - ooooo - - - ooooo - - - ooooo - - - ooooo - - - ooooo - - - ooooo - - -

Jane was sitting in a room, settled on a couch and feeling quite ill at ease after the days events. How had she gone from the wonder and glorious beauty of Asgard to this in such a short period?

She'd been hiding – it was the only thing she could do at the time – she hated it but she would have been more of a liability just wandering the halls. She wasn't some dark race of elves or an Asgardian – either of their weapons would have as easily torn off her limbs as if she was made of wet paper. She couldn't really do much more than that. The sounds had begun to die down now but she could hear the muffled voices in the nearby room.

Jane couldn't know what was happening from her small dark closet, but when Frigga told her to remain in this little piece of false wall for her own safety Jane couldn't argue. It was where she stood with bated breath until she heard Thor's scream – felt the lightning set the hairs of her arms on end. She didn't hear anything after that – other than the distant squeal of the emergency alarms wailing in the distance. Peeking from the darkness she took a few steps to round a corner, her breath catching in her throat. On the floor is where Frigga lay, Odin over her but she wasn't moving. Jane could tell she had to have been killed almost immediately – particularly with the pained expression on Thor's face.

How could she have let Frigga die protecting her? Jane felt wretched about what had come to pass, sure she didn't want to be kidnapped but this wasn't an option she would have picked. When someone came to offer her food she shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

The clatter as the man fell to the floor a moment later – knocked out from Sif's attack, left Jane wide eyed. "Good, come with me."

Jane couldn't exactly argue so she followed Sif, glancing the unconscious guard nervously as she moved. "What, what's going on?"

"Thor has devised a plan to escape with you." Sif replied, pausing as they turned a corner and in front of her she found Odin.

"I should have known." Odin remarked, his guards advancing as Sif froze. Clearly the warrior woman hadn't expected this. "I know you are loyal to Thor Sif, but this is treason. Give up your weapon, guards, put her in the dungeon."

Sif seemed to consider resisting, but Odin being present made her second-guess that inclination – she handed her sword to the guards and lowered her head as they lead her away.

"You will go to the dungeon's as well." Odin said after Sif and her entourage had rounded the corner. "This is not personal Jane Foster, but we must keep this war on our own shores. Whatever feelings Thor has for you are irreverent in this, guard's put her with Loki – then find the rest of this uprising and put it down. We don't have time for this nonsense."

"Wait, put me with who?" Jane tried to call back over her shoulder but she was already being drug away and Odin wasn't listening.

**End Chapter**

As stated, couldn't get this out of my head so I sat and wrote it out. I definitely like what I have plotted in my brain and hope my readers will enjoy it as well. This fiction will be continued as my muse allows but I still want to finish up the Art of War before I get too far into it.

_-Aura_


	2. Grief

**Chapter Two:** _**Grief**_

"_Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them."_

_**-Leo Tolstoy**_

_Odin does hate me..._

It was the only thought Jane could come up with as she was pushed into the cell. The golden wall flickered into place behind her as soon as she'd passed the threshold. She had to catch her feet and turned to protest, but her words caught in her throat at the pain that arched through her upon contact with the deceptively thin barrier. She was shoved backward after a moment, or she fell. It was hard to tell which. The fabric of her dress pooling around her on the floor as she remained on her knees a long moment before pushing herself to her feet – but there was little she could say.

The harsh reality that she was on an alien world really closing in with the electrified wall in front of her. Sure, it'd seemed like a dream when Thor returned, pulled her off to his world and it's marvels – despite the dangerous substance flowing through her veins. She'd been happy, so delighted by being swept off her feet in that brief time she couldn't have predicted what would follow. She crashed to the earth – well the proverbial earth – when her rear struck the tiled floor of her new 'room'. Thor was in danger now – just as his mother had been – all because she'd come right along with him without a moment of hesitation or fear. Not even a second she'd put into the thoughts of possible consequences – and even if she had this wasn't at all what she would have come up with.

"Well, well, well...it seems the all-father is being generous today." The superior drawl of Loki's voice made Jane's spine stiffen. She'd forgotten until that moment that she would be sharing a cell.

She heard the shift of movement behind her and turned around, stalking up to him to slap him before he could continue to speak. "That was for New York!"

His face snapped to the right but given a slow smile came to his lips a moment later.

"I like her." He remarked, not making Jane any more comfortable with her new place – she had to stop letting that temper get the better of her. "What an unexpected gesture of good-will, is the all-father tired of Thor's tryst's with the mortal realm? Is she to be a form of entertainment?"

Jane was about to reply to that question but the guard had already spoken before she could form a suitable answer.

"The All-Father wishes for you to guard Jane Foster until such a time as the war criminal Malakith is taken care of. He sends this order with the offer of giving you parole from these walls after another hundred years has passed. If she is killed then you will follow her to the afterlife soon after." The guard replied, glancing to Jane and then back to Loki – his serious expression softening if only by a fraction, then he remained quiet – were they not going to tell him about his mother's death?

Jane paused, she couldn't really continue to protest – or say anything. It was her fault – Frigga died because Jane was there – because she couldn't defend herself. Jane instead looked around the sparsely furnished room. Anywhere that wasn't the stare still leveled on her from her cellmate. This one was nicer than any of the other cells she'd seen in her short trip here but still had limited area. One detail was enough to prod her to speak before the guard could fully walk away.

"Um, there's only one cot." Jane said, hoping the guard would throw her a bone.

"Then you will have to share." The guard replied, walking off before she could offer another protest – not that it would do her any good. When she turned around to face her cellmate she frowned at the grin still on his face. She doubted he would be so cheerful if he heard of his mother's demise and she couldn't be the one to tell him. Not when it was her fault...

"Here you were so direct a moment ago – why the sudden quiet?" Loki had been deprived any personal entertainment for some time so he had to admit that the all-father handing him the very woman he had previously been planning to kidnap was almost too perfect. Protect her for an eventual release? Oh, Odin must have bought into Frigga's pressing him to give Loki a chance. He would have to thank his mother later for the gesture – once he fashioned himself an escape.

"I...just don't like you." Jane retorted hesitantly, it was difficult to really be angry with him when she felt responsible for his mother's death. She backed up as he approached, until she remembered the electric wall and paused herself with him close enough to make her less than comfortable.

"You're hiding something." Loki observed, his eyes scanning her – he was good at this – better than she would have thought from what she knew of him.

"It...it's not my place to say anything." She remarked, walking around past him to go sit on the cot – it was away from all the painful walls.

"Something happened in the city with the attack, tell me." Loki followed her, seating himself next to her. She half wanted to get up again but she felt exhausted – she could only presume that was the Aether in her body draining her energy. She knew she had to conserve what she had left.

Jane shook her head negatively. "I wouldn't know where to start."

_"Well you're mom's dead and it's probably my fault won't win me a fan of the psychopath."_

"You can take your time, we have that in spades judging father's plans." Loki remarked, smiling in such a way as to be charming.

If she hadn't seen him trying to destroy New York for herself she might have given him the benefit of the doubt. She glanced away from him, even if he was horrible...he was still a person – and he wouldn't be grinning if he knew. It felt so much worse that he was smiling and carrying on as if all was well despite the attack above. Could she really just not tell him something that important? Forget what sort of person he was...what would that make her?

"Frigga..." She managed to resolve herself to at least tell him of her mother's death. "Frigga is dead, Malakith..."

She went silent, swallowing as she glanced back over to him. Rage might as well have been coming off of him in waves. The relaxed posture of a moment before had tightened to a coil. The smile had faded into a thin line on his pale lips. His fingers curled into a fist that was nearly shuttering.

"Hey um..." Jane's words fell short when he rounded on her. His eyes were wild. The green within seemingly on fire – perhaps because of his riled temper. She stared at him, his dark hair slightly uneven after his swift turn. Could she apologize? No, if she said that his mother's death was because of her then surely he'd kill her himself if this was how he reacted to the fact that she was dead at all. She cried out when he pushed her down on the bed. About to fight when instead found herself on her side after a freefall – he'd flipped the cot to the side.

"Stay down." Loki remarked shortly, his voice uneven.

A pulse of energy shot from where Loki was, tossing everything in the room backward. She didn't have time to protest before the mattress pinned her to the single non electrified wall. A moment before that there was a glimpse of other furniture getting blown backward, sparking against the cell and fragmenting from the energy within the room. When he cried out she felt herself shutter, swallowing the lump that rose in her throat – the raw emotion in his scream was almost enough to bring her to tears.

This wasn't the villain that had destroyed half a city – it was just a boy that had lost his mother...Jane couldn't help but pity him even though she was frightened. Certainly it wasn't comfortable behind this bed but she wasn't about to try and crawl out – more pulses followed the first two. More screaming, palatable grief hung in the air even where she was hiding.

Eventually she hadn't felt anything for several minutes but could hear heavy breathing. She wasn't sure if she should leave. She could breath and she wasn't exactly being crushed – this also kept her safe from any debris – so apparently Loki didn't intend to hurt her.

Then again, the soreness in her hip from where he flipped the bed made her doubt he meant to be kind. The guard had said if she died Loki would die as well – that he was supposed to guard her here? It was just very confusing – Jane was glad Odin didn't want to kill her but that didn't mean this was very safe. She didn't peer from behind the cot for a few more minutes – until it had been quiet other than unsteady breathing for a while.

The once comfortable seeming Loki was disheveled – his coat had been discarded and lay tattered across the floor with the rest of the furniture. He sat against the wall where she hid, staring at his hands – settled on his lap. He must have either cut his foot or stepped on the spilled fruit during his breakdown for it was marred a deep red. His hair was wild, but the rage was gone – at least temporarily. There were wet marks along his cheeks where his tears had fallen, his face still puffy from the show of sorrow. This broken creature wasn't by any means the villain she'd come to hate. In that moment of emotional bankruptcy after his disintegration she couldn't bring herself to feel any animosity toward him. She was afraid, but she also felt incredibly guilty – this was her fault...she caused this – the least she could do was to try and comfort him.

She moved closer slowly, and gently set a hand on his. He jumped, glancing at her as if he'd forgotten during his fit that she was in the room with him. Then staring at her then her hand – his eyes jumping between the two spots. Her own expression softened – she could loathe him later...she shook her head once negatively. There were no words she could offer that would be of any condolence – instead she did the only human thing she could think to do – she hugged him.

**End Chapter**

Yay, got a second chapter finished. Sorry it's taken a while but my OC/Loki fic is one I'm doing more work on right now – and I don't have a lot of free time with school having started back up in the first place. You should check it out, it's named; Loyalty. (by me of course)

_-Aura_

To my reviewers:

Thanks for all your kind reviews, I appreciate every one but usually only reply to longer reviews or questions from person to person : )

_SharpMaz_ – Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy both stories. The second part of Art of War is on hold until I can come up with more details for it as it will take a lot more effort and planning than the other fics I have going on atm.

_Isaalacrymosaa_ – Who would do what with jane and the aether?

_TheFarthestStar _– Yeah I've been wanting too.


	3. Compromise

**Chapter Three:** _**Compromise**_

"_More often there is a compromise between ethics and expediency."_

_**-Peter Singer**_

Loki's entire body tensed and his first thought was to shove the human off of him – but the warmth of her embrace wasn't entirely unwelcome after the news of his mother. Besides, if he wanted her to allow him to remove a piece of the Aether then he couldn't treat her harshly. He let his body relax after the initial surprise, and slight distaste inspired by her gesture of pity. Instead of pushing her to the side he set an arm around her lightly and put his head on hers – it was probably more intimate than she ever intended but if he wasn't going to reject her offer then he might as well embrace it. It was probably the last honest comfort anyone would ever offer now that mother had been murdered.

"Ow." Her complaint made him realize he'd tightened his grip at the thought and he released her waist. Malakith would pay...Loki would make sure of that himself...how fitting if he was to be unmade with the very weapon he sought. Jane was quiet, she still didn't have much she could say – far as she was concerned the death was her fault – and she knew asking 'are you okay?' was the dumbest question possible.

Instead she found herself staring at the unkempt god of mischief. He looked so different now compared to when he was trying to stand over New York. It was difficult to believe this was the same Asgardian that had tried to become the earth's overlord. He was scanning her in return and that made her nervous – he could read people better than she realized and she glanced away again – fearful he would figure out that she was involved with Frigga's death. The silence was excruciating – that was until her stomach growled loudly and despite her claim she wasn't hungry earlier her body was going to disagree in the most embarrassing way possible.

_"Really, right now?"_ She thought at her belly in frustration.

"There should still be some fruit that survived the blast in the bowl, if you are hungry." Loki commented as he watched her glance away in embarrassment. From a lion to a mouse in a matter of moments – no wonder Thor approved. His finger traced her arm, interested in the aether curled close to the surface of her skin at his touch. It was beautiful; the crimson energy that sparkled within her veins.

"The Aether..." Jane blinked, as if she'd forgotten a moment she had an eternal parasite within her. "Why didn't it react to you? It's forced everyone else away."

"Everyone but Thor." Loki grinned. "Perhaps you feel attracted to me as well so it simply doesn't lash out."

"Yeah, no." Jane replied in an immediate refusal. He might have been insulted if it wasn't amusing. "It probably just thinks you are a kindred spirit."

"How quickly your grace becomes grievance. I am familiar with the infinity stones Jane Foster – that is why it does not attack me." Loki replied, it seemed a fair enough excuse since she already knew of his work with the Tesseract.

"What's an infinity stone?" Jane asked, moving to look for something salvageable to eat while she spoke with Loki. He'd been right that some grapes survived under one of the bowls – better than starving...she popped one into her mouth.

"They are artifacts older than time – or so the story goes. To say the least they are ancient given their origin is unknown even to the Asgardian's. They are sources of incredible power, as I imagine you've seen some small portion in your television." Loki replied, the explanation was far from something that many in the palace weren't already aware of. His personal knowledge of the artifacts went far deeper thanks to his time beyond the void of space.

"Great...I have some prehistoric virus..." Jane remarked, unhappy with everything she'd been told so far. "Why is Odin keeping me here exactly? Wouldn't it be safer not to hold me on Asgard? Where Malakith will return for it."

"Revenge would be my best guess – I suppose we were bound to agree on something eventually." Loki remarked. Not that he ever liked agreeing with Odin but if this elf was responsible for mother's death then he backed seeing the dark elf drown choking on his own blood. "As for you...being a mortal I can't imagine the Aether will take long to eat through your energy – you already look very pale."

"I'm usually pretty fair skinned." Jane answered, hoping that it was just because he didn't know her. The idea that this supernatural tic planned to drain her to death was far from comfortable. She had felt a little more reassured that Thor wanted to help her but that plan was now out the window. Trapped in a cell in a prison on a world so far from her own she couldn't begin to know the distance didn't help her nerves – perhaps she was dead and just hadn't gotten there yet. It certainly felt like the clock was winding down. "I dunno. Minutes to midnight."

"Midnight?" Loki perked a brow. "Are you waxing poetic?"

"No...well, not exactly. It's a concept about world destruction – midnight is when the world will implode and there are only minutes left in the cosmic scale before it happens." Jane rushed through the explanation, shrugging after she did. "It's not really the best reference. You know about these stones, and this thing inside of me is one of them?"

"Yes." Loki nodded at her. "But I could get it free of your skin."

"What?" Jane glanced back up to Loki from where she'd inspecting which grapes she'd risk eating, her eyes surprised. "What do you mean, Odin said they didn't know how to get it out of me."

"Odin wouldn't, but then he has never spent time in the void of space." Loki retorted with a small shrug. "I couldn't do it here regardless, it would take supplies from my mother's personal collection and we won't get those here."

"But if you could get it out you could talk to the guards, maybe they would let you free long enough to control the Aether." Jane spouted the words hopefully, innocent to just how harsh the all-father could be.

"Think carefully about that. Do you think they'd risk letting me out, more or less me possibly taking control of the Aether? You are nothing to them, the life of a mortal is a passing breeze." Loki commented, setting his arm across where one of his legs was bent. He'd destroyed most of the places to sit so he may as well get comfortable on the ground. "It's ironic though isn't it? Stuck in a cell with the one creature on Asgard that could help you but just beyond the means to do so."

"Why would you want to help me anyway?" Caution took hold once the woman had time to consider the 'too good to be true' scenario of getting help. "What would you get out of it?"

"Well, the Aether would have to be controlled, a method of channeling it without becoming it's host would be needed. I'm not volunteering to replace you as it's walking meal." Loki put it out there, little reason to sugar coat with the limited time he had to work with. He wasn't going to convince her to trust him in so short a time but she might want to survive despite possible consequences. "Once I manage to get it into such a form I will use it to unmake Malakith."

"You speak like we're gonna do it right now, we're stuck in a cell – besides I don't think it'd be a good idea to give you anything like that. You'd probably use it to destroy Asgard." Jane remarked bluntly. With how quickly he seemed to get over his rage about his mother she'd been swift for forget her guilt as well.

"For a woman so quick to judge, you know incredibly little. I imagine only whatever sparse remarks you shared with the brute that calls himself my brother." Loki retorted. "Why on earth would I destroy Asgard when I wish to be it's king?"

"Uh, you killed a bunch of people on earth. You said you wanted to rule there as well." Jane's lips were canted downward. The idea of this destructive force in the hands of Loki didn't sit too well with her...it felt a little like a 'into the fire' scenario.

"A few deaths will likely be needed. Such decisions are made by rulers all the time. Even your country's president kills when the demand arises." Loki waved a hand as if it were nothing of importance. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"Is that what you were trying to show those poor people in Germany?" Jane asked, feeling a little braver since she knew Loki couldn't kill her without signing his own death warrant. "Seems to me, you're a little boy looking to play at king while you don't understand it at all. A tyrant is different than a king."

His expression darkened, there was a dangerous glint to the rich pine of his gaze that made Jane second guess how wise it was to name call. Then a coy smile lit his face instead of the harsher actions or words she began to suspect would follow.

"A pity you couldn't teach Odin such a difference...the way your world sees ruler ship as opposed to Asgard are by and large distant concepts." Loki stated, calm despite his moment of unrest. "Regardless, we will need to escape here to find the proper materials with which to construct a vessel."

"You want to escape the dungeon?" Jane blinked a few times at him. "Why, er how, no actually – yeah let's stick with why haven't you already done it then?"

"I had my reasons until now to bide my time." Loki offered up the mostly non-answer with a shrug. "It remains on you. I cannot shield you with magic if you do not listen to what I say. Any chance of us vacating this cell – even for a short time – comes with a commitment from you to do as you are told. Something I would presume you are unaccustomed to."

Jane stared back at him, mulling over the condition. That could really come back to bite her, wasn't he supposed to be a master manipulator? She couldn't just agree outright – but it was difficult to refuse him as well. In the end she had a limited time-line for as long as this Aether was shimmering away in her skin like a malevolent Christmas parasite.

"No killing anybody." Jane remarked. She had to at least make that known. She wasn't willing to watch anyone else die so she could survive. Or at least no innocent people... "Okay, well anyone that isn't a dark elf."

"An acceptable compromise." The smile on his face didn't make her anymore comfortable. "Are you then willing to listen to me without questioning every command?"

Jane swallowed and set her jaw before she nodded to him.

"I am."

What was she getting herself into?

**End Chapter**

Yay I got some time to write. I has plans for the next chapter but just depends on when I get the free moments to work it out. Halloween has been busy this year. I learned to make an awesome double layered orange fudge – it's tasty!

_-Aura_

To my reviewers:

Thanks for all the kind words. I'm glad people seem to be enjoying my new story!


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